1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates to deep fat fryers for the food service industry. More particularly, this disclosure relates to deep fat fryers for the food service industry that are capable of filling and maintaining a volume of cooking oil in a cooking receptacle. Still more particularly, this disclosure relates to deep fat fryers that are capable of filling and maintaining a volume of cooking oil in a cooking receptacle depending upon a sensed temperature of the oil.
2. Description of Related Art
Deep fryers are a necessity of the food service industry and particularly for the fast food service industry. For quick cooking of foods, the cooking oil must be filled in the cooking pot and be of a particular temperature at all times. During the cooking process much of the oil is absorbed by a food product, resulting in loss of oil volume. Furthermore, the rate of temperature rise is directly related to shortened oil life. Accordingly, there is a need to keep the volume of oil at optimal levels during the cooking process to minimize oil degradation caused by the heating process. Thus there is a need to keep the fryer full of oil at all times during the cooking process. Without an automatic system to maintain the oil at an optimal level and optimal temperature the operator could overlook the oil volume while cooking and reduce the effective life of the cooking oil.
Accordingly, there is a need for a deep fryer that fills and maintains the desired cooking oil volume and temperature for commercial deep fat fryers without operator intervention.